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Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Cover Reveal - Gethyon has arrived!

I have been sitting on this since Friday morning, and let me tell you - it has been TORTURE! You try keeping a new cover under wraps for five days! I've been dying to show it off. It'll also be my last cover reveal for a while since I don't currently have any further titles upcoming. But this is the long awaited cover for Gethyon - a YA scifi novel being published by Champagne Books under their BURST imprint. I've been fortunate indeed in being paired up with the uber-talented Champagne cover artist - Misa Buckley - who also happens to be a fellow author, Brigader and friend. :) Isn't it gorgeous?!

I also have a little animated banner to match -

How cool is that?! And if you're after a cover or graphic yourself, I'm pleased to say Misa also does freelance work as Masquerade Graphics - please go and check out her work!

Action!
So, with my final reveal done, it's back to work. Last week I made my three submissions to the mentors in #pitchwars. Yesterday marked the start of submission for #pitchmas. I've entered my sfr Tethered for both of these - fingers crossed! Next Wednesday I should hear whether my submission for #pitchwars has paired me up with a mentor to help me polish and pitch! >.<
I've finished my short story for the SFR Brigade anthology! Yay! This despite a sick child which put me a couple of days behind schedule and left me fighting to catch up. Fortunately poor weather this weekend has meant I've had an excuse to be online and do a few bits, something that isn't normally permitted during weekends as that's designated family time.
Both Keir and Terms & Conditions Apply have now been entered for a couple of contests. Keir is in the NEFRA, both in the Paranormal/Furturistic Romance category and the Best First Novel. Terms & Conditions Apply has gone into the Silken Sands Self Published Star Contest as a short story entry. Wish me luck!

Happenings
I'm taking part in the Santa's Little Helper Scavenger Hunt organized by BTS and Freya's Bower - there's some great prizes, so check out the post here and see if you can grab yourself an early Christmas treat! I also have a guest post by Anna Hackett on the Carina Press Christmas SFR anthology - A Galactic Holiday - with details about the three authors who contributed and a snippet about their stories. There's also a giveaway - go here! I'm also a guest myself over on Backward Momentum tomorrow, courtesy of Jessica Subject. I'll be talking about avatars and my new sfr short story -Terms & Conditions Apply - plus there's a giveaway! However, if you'd like a shot at the prizes, here's the details!

One sparkly red and silver key ring

And one digital copy of my short in whatever format the winner desires. Both are available internationally, and it's open until the 10th December. Just enter the rafflecopter for your chance to win.

Terms & Conditions Apply received a second review on Amazon here that left me rather touched. It's short but sweet, and reassured me that the unconventional story isn't putting people off enjoying it. Phew!

Discoveries
Following a blog on sales stats by fellow author Gayle Ramage, I was directed to this useful little directory - Book Matchers, a kind of dating agency for readers with books, lol! Authors can list their books for free and are required to enter certain information about it. Readers can them come to the site, answer questions about what kind of book they'd like, and Book Matchers pairs them up with a hopefully perfect read. The service is completely free to use. Worth a shot?

I have to say I find myself very interested in sales figures from other authors. Generally the only ones willing to share are those selling hundreds a day, which leaves me feeling a little insignificant. I've not posted mine in public - for one thing, I'm not sure my publisher would be happy for me to do that - and I know there's a huge scale in differences between what some authors make. The majority I know generally have to work writing around a full time job, so I guess those in the higher sales rankings are the minority. Success for me wasn't about how much money I was making at the end of the day - although I'd love to be able to make a living from it!

What was your ambition when you first started writing?

Ping Pong
Donna, loved your post on cover design and glad I sparked something off. Maybe we should do a survey on what readers like to see most on the cover of a SFR title? I remember the majority liked my cover for Keir (although a few disliked it a lot) but I'm not sure conveys the SF elements of the story as well as it does the personality of my male MC and the tone of the story.

Laurie, I wonder how long we're going to have to wait for the news about Mars? All I've been seeing is confirmation of water on Mercury - incredible when you think how close to the sun it is!

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Hosted by 5 Science Fiction Romance authors with 8 RWA Golden Heart finals and a RITA final between them. We aim to entertain with spirited commentary on the past, present, and future of SFR, hot topics, and our take on Science Fiction and SFR books, television, movies and culture.

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Pull up a hoverchair and have a Billins. :)

This blog is named in honor of the seedy tavern on the planet Dartis in P2PC where Laurie's MC Sair originally began his journey--before her critiquers compelled her to trash the Star Wars cantina opening. [See post entitled: From Whence Came the Name clickto see the excerpt.]

Not being one to give up on a theme, a new Spacefreighters Lounge manifested itself on the planet Banna in a later draft--reincarnated as a slightly more respectable locale.